Circular-knitting machine



J. L- MARSHALL AND R. E. DAVIS.

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 15, 1920.

1,386,580. PatentedAug. 2,1921.

IIIIIIIIIIIII lllllllllllll! In. I

' verse section on the line 4-4 of Fi 2.

- UNITED STATES PATENT omen.

JOHN LOYN MARSHALL AND ROBERT EVAN DAVIS, 03' FORT PAYNE-435 CIRCULAR-KNITTING- MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 2, 1921.

Application filed December 10, 1920. Serial No. 4s1,1ao.'

To all whom it may concern:

Be it'known that we, JoHN L. MARSHALL and ROBERT E. DAVIS, citizens of the United States, and residents of Fort Payne, in the county of Dekalb and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Im provements in Circular-Knittin Machines; and we do hereby declarethe ollowin to be a full, clear, and exact description of the. invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to stop mechanism for circular knitting machines-one object of the invention being to provide simple and efiicient means for causlng the prompt stopping of a knitting machine when a hole occurs in the knitted fabric.

A further object is to provide an attachment for circular knittlng machines, for effecting the stoppin of the machine when a hole occurs in the initted tube, and to so construct and arrange such attachment that its major portion shall be rotatable with the shaft of the knittin machine and occupy a position within the itted tube, and so that a part of said attachment shall be movable in a downward direction and impart movement, through the medium of a lever located in proximity to the knitted tube, to means for stopping the machine when the said downwardly movable part of the attaghment encounters a hole in the knitted tu 6.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certam novel features of construction and combinations of parts as hereinafter set forth and pointed out in the claims. a

In the accompanying drawings; Figure 1 is a view of a portion of a circularknitting machine showing the application of our improvements; Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view; Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a trans 1 represents a portion of a circu ar knitting machine and 2 the driven shaft thereof. The shaft 2 is provided in its lower end portion with a socket 3 to receive the shank 4 of a spindle 5. The lower end portion of the socketed part of the shaft 2 is provided with an L-shaped notch 6 to receive a pin 7 on the shank 4 and-thus the spindle 5 is connected with the shaft 2 by a bayonet joint, so that its connection with said shaft shall be movable. The socketed ortio the shaft 2 may have beveled pol ions d 2d gulde the pin? mto the L-shaped notch 6.

A collar 9 is secured to the upper portion of the sp1nd1e 5, and to the lower end of sa1d spindle, a collar 10 is secured.

Mounted loosely on the s indle 5 under the collar 91s a clrcular block or member 11 which 1s supported in normal position by means of a spring 12 encircling the spindle and bearlng at its respective ends against sa1d block or member 11 and the collar 10. The spring 12 presses the block 12 toward the collar 9 and in order that rotation of the block 11 with the spindle 5 and shaft 2 under normal cpnditions shall be assured, without depending so'lely upon frictional engagement of the block with the collar 9, the collar s provided with a tit 13 to engage a slmilar tit 14 on the block or mem ber 11. These tits may be rounded (or beveled) so that when resistance is offered to the rotation of the block or member 11, the latter will, by the cam action of the tits relatlvely to each other, be forced away from the collar 9 and thus be prevented from rotating with the spindle 5.

The block or member 11 is provided with a socket 15 in which a pin or finder 16 is movable. A spring 17 is located in the adapted to be pressed through a hole which might occur in thefabric as indicated in Fig. 2. In order to prevent esoa e of the pm or finder 16, the latter is provided with a groove 19 which receives the end of a screw 20.

The usual rolls 21 areprovided for pullingor feeding the knitted tube len hwise. A lever 22 is pivotally mounted etween its ends on a suitable pin or support 23 and one end of said lever is bent u wardly as at' 24 and formed with a rounde or cam edge 25,-said lever being so located that its cam arm 24 will normally lie near the cone of the tubular fabric and thus be disposed in the path of movement of. the block or member 11 when the latter is caused to descend. The other arm, 26, of the lever-23 may be disposed between disks 27 on a rod or wire 28 of a Brinton stop motion, or

said arm 26 of the lever ma be caused. to operate any suitable means hot shown) to stop the operation of the machine.

It will be observed that the attachment which controls the operation of the lever 23 to stop the machine, is located inside of the cone of fabric and that during the normal operation of the machine, the said attachment rotates with the shaft, with the spring-pressed pin or finder 16 bearing against the inside of the cone of fabric. Should a hole occur in the fabric tube, the pin or finder will be projected through it as shown in Fig. 2 and, as the fabric tube continues to move longitudinally it will cause the block or member 11 to be moved downwardly on the spindle 5 away from the collar and its rotation will'be arrested; As the block or member 11 thus moves downwardly it will cooperate with the cam arm 24 (through the fabric) and cause the lever 23 to be turned on its pivotal mounting and operate the stop motion and thus stop the operation of the machine.

The attendant may readily detach the attachment from the shaft 2 of the machine to facilitate removal of the defective portion of'the fabric tube and readjustment of said tube, and he may then connect the attachment with the shaft 2 and permit the block or member 11 to assume operative relation to the collar 9 so that said block or member will again rotate, with the pin or finder pressing against the cone of fabric.

Various changes might be made in the details of construction of our invention without departing from the spirit thereof or limiting its scope, and hence we do not confine ourselves to the precise details herein set forth.

Having fully described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

l. The combination with a rotatable member of a circular knitting machine, of a part connected with said rotatable member and normally rotatable therewith, a springpressed finder carried by said part to engage the fabric tube and to enter a hole therein, whereby said part may be connected with a defective fabric tube and caused to move therewith in the direction of travel of the fabric tube to disconnect said part from operative relation with the rotatable member of the machine, and a lever for operating stop mechanism, said lever having an arm in the path of movement of said part when the latter is moved by the fabric tube.

2. The combination with a rotatable member of a circular knitting machine, of a spindle rotatable therewith, a member movable on said spindle in the direction of travel of a fabric tube coming from the machine, means normally connecting said member with the spindle so as to rotate there with, a spring pressed finder carried by said member and adapted to enter ahole which I may occur in the fabric tube, and a lever for stop mechanism having a part in the path of movement of the member on the s indle when said member is moved longitudinally of the spindle.

3. The combination with a rotatable part of a circular knitting machine, and a lever for operating stop mechanism, of a spindle rotatable with the said rotatable part of the machine, a collar near one end of, said spindle, a member on said spindle and movable longitudinally thereof, a sprin pressing said member toward said col ar, cooperable means on said collar and member to cause the latter to rotate with the spindle, and a spring-pressed finder carried by said member to engage a fabric tube coming from the machine, said member being cooperable with said lever when moved longitudinally of the spindle.

4. The combination with a'rotatable shaft of a circular knitting machine, and a lever for operating stop mechanism, of a spindle projecting from said shaft, a collar near one end of said spindle and having a tit, a member mounted on said spindle for operating said lever and having a tit for cooperation with the tit on said collar, a spring normally pressing said member toward the collar, and a spring pressed finder carried by said member to engage a fabric tube. I

5. An attachment for circular knitting machines, comprising a lever for operating stop mechanism, a spindle attachable to a rotatable shaft of a circular knitting machine, collars near respective ends of said spindle, a member loose on said spindle and. movable longitudinally of the latter to o erate said lever, said member and the co llar near the upper end of the spindle having cooperable parts to cause said member to rotate with the spindle, a spring between the other collar and said member and operating to press the latter toward the upper collar, and a spring pressed findercarried by said member to engage a tubular fabric.

6. The combination with a rotatable shaft of a circular knitting machine, and a lever for operating stop mechanism, of a spindle removably connected with said shaft, a member loose on said spindle and movable longitudinally thereof to operate said lever, means for causing said member normally to rotate with said spindle, and a sprlngpressed finder carried by said member and adapted to engage a fabric tube coming from said machine.

7. The combination with a rotatable shaft of a circular knitting machine, and a lever Leeaasc 8 of a member normally rotatable with said In testimony whereof, We have signed shaft and movable in the direction of travel this specification in the presence of two sub- 10 of a fabric tube coming from the machine scribing Witnesses.

to coiiperate with the cam arm of said lever, JOHN LOYN MARSHALL. means for separably connecting said mem- ROBERT EVAN DAVIS. ber with said shaft, and a spring-pressed Witnesses:

finder carried by said member to engage the W. B. HORTON,

fabric tube. C. M. GIBsON. 

